A mandolin-playing co-worker of my wife's said we HAD to see the Asylum Street Spankers when they came to Seattle. So last night we did. I was dubious because they were described as somewhat vaudeville. I was pleasantly surprised. This acoustic septet from Austin proffered plenty of vaudeville mannerisms but also slinky jazz ballads, blues, Django Reinhardt-esque swing guitar, and a mind-bending gangsta rap/country-and-western-murder-ballad fusion called "Hick Hop." Another high point: the great, uber-bluesy cover of Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Working," with a front line doing ersatz Motown guy-group choreography.

A shout out to Seattle's primo roots music venue, The Tractor Tavern. Not only for booking the Spankers, but for offering an early show attractive to 40-something geezers paying a babysitter.

BONUS EXTRA: From the Spanker website, here's the link to a Swiss sheep farm they've visited. Look at the picture. Don't you wanna go, too?

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at February 8, 2004 10:30 AM

---

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.rosenblog.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/46

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference C&W Gangsta Rap, & much more:

---

» The next fad? Drive-by hoedowns from The Smoking Room
Matt Rosenberg brings us tidings of a new fusion genre known as "hick hop" and gives a Jewish white boy... [Read More]

Tracked on February 9, 2004 01:09 PM

» weight loss free loss drug weight from weight loss free loss drug weight
Take your time to visit some information dedicated to new news on weight loss drug [Read More]

Tracked on August 28, 2005 09:39 PM

» weight loss free loss drug weight from weight loss free loss drug weight
Take your time to visit some information dedicated to new news on weight loss drug [Read More]

Tracked on August 28, 2005 09:40 PM